trinacriabob

Before I forget, I'll put up this one ... This thing - maybe a 10 year old Buick Verano - almost looks as if enshrined in a glass case! It looks great for enduring the frozen tundra of the GTA. It's actually in a winding pathway under nicer office buildings to access the subway station. I miss these great little cars ... quiet, smooth, nimble, very comfortable up front, fairly good on fuel, and with commendable build quality.

So, here I am, freezing my behind off in the GTA. I'm staying up at the northwest terminus of the TTC (subway) because it's so much cheaper. It's at least 45 minutes from Union Station. No regrets. It's nice and newer up here. My seat neighbor was a married foreign lady (who isn't foreign in the GTA? LOL) and we conversed most of the way. We talked about many things. It turns out she was from Eritrea. She told me that it is possible to go there with some bureaucratic things one has to do first and that Asmara is considered safe. She said that Italian food is sort of standard ... and that it's good! So, between seeing your YouTube and talking to this lady about life and the world, I want to go. I will be in the California desert for my birthday through Christmas, with a "free" roof over my head. Yep, all those Angelenos now living in the desert ... and so many other places. I might even have a swimming pool (and palm trees) to fall asleep next to.

This whole thing is weird. I have always been with the local BCBS affiliate wherever I've lived, with few exceptions. They have been great ... so far. They have had some dense door knobs in 800 customer service, though. I try to be low maintenance as I do not like being ill and going to doctors. I wonder if this sad event has some vigilante stuff behind it. Or there's more than one person behind it. I've had a good PCP since 2019, even though he doesn't seem to like my questions about causality and things that may be interrelated, which are very common in medicine. I'm sorry, but "A-" was my lowest GPA in university level studies, so don't expect me to dumb it down too much. The thorn in my side is his medical assistant who is a white trash witch. I then look this up and see Reddit and Quora are full of threads on this very dynamic. I now go semiannually instead of quarterly because I don't want to interact with her. - - - - - All this talk about religion *sigh* I have a religion, after 16 years in Catholic schools through undergrad, and am now a "casual Catholic." The fly in the ointment is that there are a few - not many - politically charged overly conservative parishes with a-hole priests and "holier than thou" older parishioners. I am not going to shelve my religion, but I do not feel like being around these folks since the flavor is more negative than positive.

Since random thoughts could involve news: in the last few days, the gunning down of a VIP health insurance CEO in Midtown Manhattan has been shocking. Yes, we know that politicians need security details and that movie stars fend off paparazzi and stalkers. But this is creepy in that business people who aren't household words are now obviously also vulnerable. There's a lot more to this that meets the eye, I'm sure. For one, they're finding out more about the perpetrator and there was some sloppiness such that NYPD has gotten a lot of data on him in less than 24 hours and he's not thought to be a "professional." Let's hope they find the perpetrator and get answers for everyone's sake. This is also weird because I have always felt fairly safe walking around Midtown Manhattan. It's an expensive business area and there are a lot of tourists along with the regular area working folks. The world keeps getting weirder and weirder.

The big deal with this song is which person (a male) Carly Simon knew that inspired it. I don't know if it's just pop culture lore, a mix of people, or if it was ever actually revealed. It works better with Carly Simon's unique and robust voice.

I am saddened by the shrinkage in the U.S.'s middle class. That was something that really strengthened this country ... and it did the same for other developed economies that also had a solid middle class population. Those at the "new" bottom are in a state of despair. Those at the top - even though they say they do and make promises - don't seem to care.

I probably already mentioned it. I got to fly on one RT for the first time this summer. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. In economy, it's better for the operator ($) than it is for the passenger. My 2 cents. Also, thank goodness that everyone also made it out of that JAL A350 that got clipped on the runway or taxiway at a major Japanese airport.

This is the one I remember well. It went all the way down the runway, kept going, and then down an embankment next to the 401, a 16, +/-, highway/freeway north of Toronto and inboard from Lake Ontario. Everyone got out. It was raining heavily as this A340 was landing.

I went into Walmart last night and got a "Pat." These types are generally not friendly to me because I might appear Republican and conservative, so I am the establishment. (Yeah ... right ... eye roll) However, this one was nice to me.

I believe that's the WF in Jacksonville, Florida.

Thank you! Things people observe about various groups shouldn't be bashed as stereotypes, but as reasonably good indicators. It's not only that way with the guys, but also with the women. One interesting thing that's going on is that they're even playing the "hard to get" game with their own counterparts where "water seeks its own level" holds, but these guys are going to other countries (Cuba is big) to find wives or shack up honeys. Eventually, the thighs on these thin Italian women will take a hit and they, too, will look like the older Gina Lollobrigida who, after one marriage, did not tie the knot again. Maybe it was her choice, or, who knows .... In the driver's seat ... Oh, well ... I'm not being ageist because it happens to everyone. Some people don't take the humbling all that well. As much as I like Italy and France, and their languages and cultures, they are Europe's worst offenders when it comes to superficiality.

Thank you! Possibly Italy's only colony, with spillover into adjacent countries like Somalia. I have no doubt the regular people would be nice, and probably nicer than most Italians who are constantly tending to their plumage to ensure they exude "la bella figura." My immigrant father would joke many Italians in Italy are much like peacocks. If it's safe, or I could be accompanied, I would like to see it.

This is funny. The guy's name is Richard Burton. Then, he says people say it looks like a platypus. It does. That makes the "dust buster" minivans look like beauty queens.

I just walked out of Cabela's with an on-line order. That place is definitely not tribe for me. I wonder how it would poll.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I llike it that today is probably the only day each year I eat quite a few slices of white turkey meat, but the tryptophan combined with the volume of food can almost knock someone out! For the rest of the day, anyway. Enjoy the long holiday weekend!

I'm not getting this one. I didn't know it could be a PNW person and I've lived there. The photo on the right looks like it might be a relative of the late Sean Connery. * scratching my head *

I know that this secrecy was mentioned, as if he was a legacy admit and didn't perform well, with some profs weighing in on that. We know when a VIP politician is on law review, magna/summa, a Fulbright, or a Rhodes scholar. Ditto with Schwarzenegger ... not even the mayor of a small town. When there was a teacher's pay settlement thing dragging on and on, he said in his Austrian accent that 'whoever' would 'stay in there until resolved and that it could smell' ... urine or feces, possibly. Brown or Newsom know how the machine works and are much less likely to utter such stupidities. I'm apolitical until I see idiocy. I will gladly vote for a good and normal Republican (a RINO), but the other side is much less amenable to voting Dem due to lower education which leads to more black and white thinking and critical thinking skills that aren't as sharp. I'd be insulted if someone called me a liberal. I just like moderation when possible.

I didn't want to bother a Bothellian with an early post, given the 3 hour time difference, but join me in wishing @G. David Felt an electrifying birthday! Enjoy your day ... as much as you can, anyway.

And, then, the deplorables will not blame him for inflation because something else must be causing it. Also, he doesn't "do" anything. He knows some, but not a lot. The puppeteers make all these calls. He has an econ degree from Penn for which he won't let the transcripts be publicized. The puppeteers often have graduate level schooling in economics, law, and policy and that's what they've habitually done for a living. He just flaps his gums and talks tough.

It used to be nice to visit Stbx every now and then. Their prices may not be prohibitive, but, now, they are ridiculous. A medium hot tea was $ 2.45 or $ 2.65 and it's now $ 3.75.

This ... ... is what makes me very happy. And when the biggest worry was that there would now be a catalytic converter under your car. This is a '75 outside of Saint Louis that they wanted $ 9,995 for. I think it's spoken for. Beautiful Salon version of the Cutlass coupe with the tall burgundy bucket seats. Not LG, as in "life's good," but, rather, "life was good."

On a different note ... ... wouldn't it have been nice to pick up a simple mid century modern ranch when they were mostly ignored or viewed like all the other available ranch homes? I've always liked their triangular transom windows and vaulted ceilings. Also, there was a type of ranch known as a "bird house" that was popular in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. I believe that one or more of the protagonists lived in one in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," one of the funniest time piece cult movies out there, with the fictitious "Jeff Spicoli." What is a parent to do if mother nature regales you with a kid like Jeff Spicoli?

Cool theater ... just kidding, but it is, though. You look good ... been hiking and into fitness, I suppose. Crossing Texas just to cross it can be a chore. One night, I was driving west on I-10 late at night in between semesters of school and pulled into a sketchy Motel 6 to get some shut eye, ignorantly not knowing what a dangerous place Beaumont TX was. The next day, I checked out Rice Univ. and UT Austin but had to later duck my Cutlass Supreme under an I-10 freeway overpass in Van Horn TX because of Texas sized hail, huddled alongside a lot of other motorists. That said, I slept in Van Horn that night. I'm thinking West Texas, if you know where to look, has mountain scenery as well as crazy wildlife - rattlesnakes, bears, mountain lions, etc. Years ago, they found a guy not too far west of Dallas - so, not mountainous and atypical habitat - lying in a creek bed and the only likely culprit seems to be a mountain lion. It was always surprising how, every 10 years or so, a healthy and younger cyclist or outdoorsman in the mountains of SoCal would get taken down by a cougar since it was big news and it freaked people out.

I had to chuckle because liking GM or Chevy (the heartbeat of America) and having ties to Kentucky could be more red than blue. Growing up, I loved GM and, on the Left Coast, this mostly blue person still had to deal with, "Eew, you have an American car," or "Eew, why do you like big cars?" (All the while I was thinking, "Why don't you GFY?")

Ok, I see. Yes, for an active person, it's not easy. Even though a few covid episodes were mild (thanking vaccination and boosters), 4 or 5 days of laying around was not to my liking and got me down. There are some things I won't do anymore and haven't done for a while. One is messing with free weights ... I want the weight machines to restrict and regulate any movements. Parenthetically, "regulate" was one great Dr. Ruth Westheimer "rrrr" word (where she rolled that "r" in an unmistakably Germanic way). The other is that I no longer swim in a saltwater body of water. And some warm, turquoise ones really beckon. Wishing you a speedy and very satisfactory recovery!